


where the wind blows

by corsage



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, I hope you like it, but it's before the other two find out about rayla's hand, don't know where exactly this piece is set, i kind of played around with the storyline a bit, my first tdp fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-16 23:44:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16505036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corsage/pseuds/corsage
Summary: Rayla put a hand on one of her daggers, and Callum immediately reevaluated his entire life.(He also attempted to hide behind a surprised Ezran's much smaller frame, but that didn't really work out, so he was forced to give up.)





	where the wind blows

" _Aspiro_ ," Callum whispered softly. Maybe this time-- 

A strong breath of wind blew out in front of him, making Rayla stagger forward; she would have fallen outright if she hadn't managed to grab hold of a tree bough and swing her way to safety in a move that Callum was not jealous of at all. Of course not. Why would he be? It was only the single most athletic thing he had ever seen, after all. 

She now glared down at him from her perch on the bough, a look so full of menace that if Callum hadn't been sure -- well, pretty sure -- that she was an ally, he'd think he was about to die. Then she put a hand on one of her daggers, and he immediately reevaluated his entire life. (He also attempted to hide behind a surprised Ezran's much smaller frame, but that didn't really work out, so he was forced to give up.) 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he said quickly, before the trained assassin could act on her silent threat. "I didn't mean to do that, I swear! I was only aiming to practice my magic--" 

"For the sixth time today, and with no success," she interrupted, anger thickening her elvish accent. "Unless you count hampering our progress to Xadia, in which case you've been successful over and over again!" 

"Hey, hey, that's a bit much, don't you think?" he replied, putting his hands out in a pacifying gesture. Wasn't she overreacting? He shared a Look with the other prince -- or rather, he Looked at Ezran, but Ez was too busy staring at Rayla, his usually happy, content expression marred by a brow that was furrowed in thought. "It was just a spell; all I did was take a shot at seeing if that spell could be changed a bit, if I could make the wind stronger or gentler by the tone of my voice." 

"And where did that get us?" she snarled. She was definitely acting irrationally. What had gotten into her all of a sudden? "Absolutely nowhere! Why can't you just leave it alone until we're done with this stupid quest?" 

"Because," Callum replied, and his words came out way more plaintive than he had intended, "because the only reason I'm practicing this much is this quest, you know? I want to be ready for anything, and I can't exactly do that unless I know how my powers work." 

"You do know how they work!" Rayla said loudly, abruptly, startling Bait into jumping out of his owner's arms and turning green in fright. "Draw a rune, say the magic word, and bam! You have yourself a spell. There isn't anything else to it!" 

Callum knew, of course he knew, that it was his fault she had almost fallen rather hard, but that fact was slowly being buried underneath a growing feeling of resentment. "But there could be," he said, deliberately slowly. "Maybe I could change the strength, or... or the speed, of the wind, if only I tried." 

"You've tried enough," she responded brusquely, and with another smooth move that Callum was now too vexed to be jealous of, the elf was out of the tree and stalking down the path ahead of them, leaving the rest of their gang watching her go. 

After a moment of Callum taking a couple of deep breaths to get his emotions under control, Ezran spoke up. "Well," he began uncertainly. "At least it wasn't the lightning spell this time?" 

That got a snort out of the elder sibling, and the younger one grinned, clearly pleased that what he had said had worked. "You guys banned me from doing that one ever again," Callum said. He still wasn't quite rid of his indignation regarding Rayla's behaviour, and was also confused about how unusual it had all been, but he didn't want to worry his little bro too much. "Unless, you know, it was a life-or-death situation or something. Which, now that I think about it, I've been in more times this past week than all my fifteen years of existence combined." 

"Almost fifteen," Ezran reminded him. Bait grunted his agreement, and on that note they finally started following Rayla. After a few minutes of walking, Ezran spoke again. "I think she hurt herself," he said, and Callum needed a moment to understand what he was talking about. 

When he did, though, he was horrified. "She did?" he asked. "I didn't--" 

"She's hiding it," came the unexpectedly insightful reply. "It's her arm, the one she used to take hold of that tree branch. Maybe she scratched it or something? Whatever it was, I think that's why she was being so..." 

"Not herself?" Callum suggested. "Or, well, just angrier than she usually is with me. Because she was in pain?" 

The guilt then hit him full force, and washed away any remaining negative feelings he might have had towards Rayla. Not wanting to wallow in it, the boy jogged ahead to catch up to her; she was cradling one hand, the one with the funny ribbon tied to the wrist, in the other, and the sight only added more weight to his shoulders. "Hey, uh," Callum began, and noticed Rayla immediately put her hands back to her sides, as if nothing was wrong. He sighed miserably, not looking forward to what he had to say, and got straight to the point. "Your hand isn't okay, is it?" 

His words appeared to give her a jolt. "What?" she said, and her voice was pitched higher than he had ever head it. "What was that about my hand?" 

"Look, Ezran saw you hurt it when I... well, when I idiotically went and practiced magic earlier. So is he right?" 

"Ah," she squeaked out. "Uh, yeah. Yeah. That's... that's what happened. I, um, pulled a muscle. In my hand. When you practiced magic. Yeah, that's about it." 

Callum was so filled with remorse about what he had done that he didn't register what the girl beside him had said beyond the fact that she had agreed to what had happened. "I'm so, so very sorry, Rayla," he pleaded. "I shouldn't have cast the spell without warning, and I really shouldn't have cast it in your direction. I... Is there anything I can do? About your hand, that is?" 

Rayla looked surprised, as if she really hadn't thought he'd apologize again. "It's nothing," she said. "It doesn't even hurt much anymore. Really," she added at the end, when he gave her a skeptical look. "It'll be fine in a while." 

"If you say so," he said, still doubtful. 

Rayla made a face, and then she blurted out, "I was in the wrong, too. I made a mountain out of a molehill, and shouldn't have shouted at you like that." 

"Well, it _was_ my fault--" 

"Shut your trap, human, I'm trying to apologize here." 

A smile tugged at the corner of Callum's mouth. "Alright, then," he said. "Go ahead." 

Being put on the spot, Rayla seemed to find herself at a loss for words. She opened and closed her mouth, watched his grin grow wider, and finally grumbled out, "I'm sorry, okay?" 

"Apology accepted," he replied easily, and felt relieved when she smiled back at him. Their fights on the way to Xadia may have been constant, but at least this one was over. 

"Have you two made up yet?" Ezran called out from behind, and the two of them started laughing. Even on the run from a whole assortment of people, carrying a stolen dragon egg to be returned to its owner, facing monsters who wanted to eat them (did they really look that appetizing?) every other day, life could have its moments. All that was really left was for Callum to figure out his magic, but that could wait for a bit. 

Well, at least until Rayla wasn't looking.

**Author's Note:**

> my first fic for this fandom, and i hope y'all enjoyed reading it! feel free to leave a comment below, or hmu @sallenore on tumblr :)


End file.
